Announcement np: SS OU Suspect Process, Round 12 - Monster Mash

[Finchinator]

Hey everyone, the OU tiering council has decided to retest Melmetal.

Melmetal has become one of the most controversial and storied Pokemon in the history of SS OU. Melmetal was initially quickbanned within two days of being released, but then retested soon thereafter only to remain banned in a close vote. As the generation progressed and more Pokemon were released, Melmetal eventually returned to OU. It finally settled into the metagame, where it remained as a strong option for nearly two years. Finally, recent discussion amongst the playerbase and councilmen accompanied by survey results showing significantly increased support for action has led to us suspecting the Iron Basher, putting its tiering placement under scrutiny one last time this generation.

Now that we have seen the metagame with Melmetal present for nearly two years, it has become a more stable and known entity rather than an albatross. Melmetal absolutely has its flaws in terms of speed, durability, and being limited in terms of moveset coverage. However, it makes up for these flaws through sheer strength and innate physical tankiness. The juxtaposition of characteristics that it presents is unique, making its unique tiering history unsurprising and its evolution in the metagame as time elapses understandable as it clashes with other options as physical attackers and Steel types.

When it comes to Melmetal, there are a number of sets it can use; we see a good distribution of each set as well rather than one or two being the predominant variants. For example, recently we have seen an uptick in Substitute Melmetal and Assault Vest Melmetal. The former can be accompanied by running three attacks, which burst out onto the scene during OLT, or the classic Acid Armor set, which is a relic that recently retained more interest as well with a very low floor, but scarily high ceiling. Assault Vest is a good way to pivot into strong special attackers like Dragapult and Tapu Lele and achieve surprising 1v1s like beating offensive Heatran. Substitute and Assault Vest sets are not quite the most common on Melmetal, however, as we see Protect + Toxic with Leftovers and two attacks -- commonly Double Iron Bash and Earthquake -- plenty as well. The Protect + Toxic variants are especially dynamic with Magnezone support, which can remove problematic presences such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Corviknight. Another option with three attacks that we have yet to mention is also Thunder Wave, which helps Melmetal outrun many more opposing Pokemon and make the most of flinch chances with Double Iron Bash. These sets tend to run Double Iron Bash, Superpower, and Thunder Punch, which grants it more widespread coverage. When you drop Protect, you may also encounter Protective Pads rather than Leftovers as this removes the chance of taking Rocky Helmet, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs damage while also evading status from Flame Body and Static. Finally, more niche options like Choice Band and Life Orb can be seen with extreme support such as Trick Room, which simply hopes to maximize damage output in a shorter window of opportunity.

Melmetal's adaptability can span further than just the aforementioned set mix as well as different spreads can allow for many different uses of Melmetal. For example, the mono-Steel typing allows for many resistances and only a handful of weaknesses, which makes checking choiced Tapu Lele, Calm Mind Tapu Fini, and Slowking-Galar feasible with some investment in its lower special defense stat. On the flip side, running more attack can allow for Melmetal to become even more potent on the offensive side as coverage moves like Superpower can sufficiently dent Ferrothorn, Thunder Punch can increase likelihoods to 2HKO bulky Water types, and Double Iron Bash can dent even the sturdiest of walls or force recovery on certain resists. With high attack and Iron Fist, it is no shock that Melmetal can be a premier physical threat. It can go even further, too, as with paralysis support on the set or throughout the team, speed investment can also allow for more interactions where Melmetal's Double Iron Bash attacks first, too. This gives Melmetal a great chance to flinch foes, which compounds well with paralysis chances to make Melmetal challenging to take down. A lot of these paths are opened up due to Melmetal's high base HP stat, which allows for investment to be used elsewhere in the grand scheme of things.

Unfortunately, Melmetal can only do so much at the same time, which makes choices such as EV allocation, item slotting, and movesets crucial towards maximizing your Melmetal on each team. Without enough bulk, Melmetal can be worn down quickly by special attackers, even if they are using moves that are not super effective. This can be amplified by losing out on Leftovers recovery, especially if the moveset lacks Protect. On the flip side, survivability can be cut without Protective Pads if you run into the wrong Rocky Helmet users or a prickly foe -- there is no assuring that Melmetal will be hanging around particularly long in any given match-up. Without enough coverage and attack investment, it is easy for things like Buzzwole, Corviknight, Skarmory, Slowbro, Ferrothorn, Zapdos, Rotom-Wash, or Volcarona to prove themselves as short- or long-term checks depending on what specifically Melmetal is lacking offensively, too. Even when Melmetal carries what it needs, it lacks the immediacy to remove bulkier threats in one-shot with coverage moves, which can lead to progress being undone due to the slower nature of Melmetal.

Some of these shortcomings can be remedied by team support, which continues to land Melmetal on novel structures as it remains a primary option in the tier. Recently we have seen Grassy Terrain support to make it healthier while weakening opposing Earthquake users. Other options like Wish Clefable and anti-Spikes Defog users such as Tornadus-Therian and Zapdos have also proven handy on the right team, too. However, this does not always make up all of the difference needed for Melmetal to be as durable and consistent as it needs to necessarily be broken in the metagame. While Melmetal is undoubtebly a strong option and one of the best Pokemon in the tier with many unique attributes, does this alone mean it is banworthy? No, what truly would make it banworthy is lacking sufficient counterplay as the games run their course. That much is in the eye of the beholder as Melmetal truly has unmatched strengths in this metagame with such a unique profile, but it also has shortcomings holding it back at the same time.

• ***THIS IS NEW TO SS OU SUSPECTS*** Reading this is mandatory for participating in the suspect test. The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 80 with at least 50 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 80 GXE, down to a minimum of 30 games at a GXE of 84. Also, needing more than 50 games to reach 80 GXE will suffice.

minimum games needed

GXE	minimum games
80	50
80.2	49
80.4	48
80.6	47
80.8	46
81	45
81.2	44
81.4	43
81.6	42
81.8	41
82	40
82.2	39
82.4	38
82.6	37
82.8	36
83	35
83.2	34
83.4	33
83.6	32
83.8	31
84	30

• You must signup with a newly registered account on Pokemon Showdown! that begins with the appropriate prefix for the suspect test. For this suspect test, the prefix will be OUTD. For example, I might signup with the ladder account OUTD Finch.
• Laddering with an account that impersonates, mocks, or insults another Smogon user or breaks Pokemon Showdown! rules may be disqualified from voting and infracted. Moderator discretion will be applied here. If there is any doubt or hesitance when making the alt, just pick another name. There are infinite possibilities and we have had trouble for this repeatedly. If you wish to participate in the suspect, you should be able to exhibit decent enough judgement here. We will not be lenient.
• We will be using the regular OU ladder for this suspect test. We will not be creating a new Suspect Ladder. At the beginning of every battle, there will be an announcement denoting the ongoing suspect with a link to this thread.
• The aspect being tested, Melmetal, will be allowed on the ladder.
• Any form of voting manipulation will result in swift and severe punishment. You are more than welcome to state your argument to as many people as you so please, but do not use any kind of underhanded tactics to get a result you desire. Bribery, blackmail, or any other type of tactic used to sway votes will be handled and sanctioned.
• Do not attempt to cheat the ladder. We will know if you did not actually achieve voting requisites, so don't do it. Harsh sanctions will be applied.
• Unlike previous tests, we will be posting the voting identification thread immediately after this thread. Your voting requisites will be confirmed by a Council member or OU moderator, to which we will edit in confirmation. Please avoid getting more games before getting confirmed.
• The suspect test will go on for roughly two weeks, lasting until October 27th at 11:59 pm (GMT-5), and then we will put up the voting thread in the Blind Voting subforum.

This thread will be open to allow all users to share their thoughts on this suspect test and discuss with one another their thoughts. However, this thread will be strictly moderated, moreso than the average OU forum thread. Our moderators will apply discretion as to what is appropriate. Please read and keep in mind the following before posting:

• No unhelpful one liners nor uninformed posts;
• No discussion on other potential suspects;
• No discussion on the suspect process -- this includes retesting Melmetal vs other potential suspects;
• You are required to make respectful posts;
• You are required to read this thread before posting.
• Failure to follow these simple guidelines will result in your post being deleted and infracted without any prior warning.
• Please also take a moment to read over some suggestions from the OU Council and the OU Moderation team for posting in this thread; adhering these will help out our time moderating the thread and present your arguments better and more educated.
  • Do not argue because it's your favorite Pokemon. This should be common sense, but please don't do this, because we will delete posts like this.
  • You do not need a boatload of experience to have an informed opinion, but please try to minimize the theorymon aspect and use your experiences watching and playing. Playing some on the ladder before posting is plenty if you're concerned about this.
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  • Do not use the argument of broken checking broken. Should your argument rest on your opinion that banning the Pokemon or mechanic being tested in this suspect test will make a Pokemon or mechanic broken, overpowered, and/or uncompetitive; don't. If something needs to be banned because of the result this suspect, then so be it.
  • This thread is not to voice complaints about the suspect process or decisions of the council. While we are more than open to hearing complaints that may arise, this isn't the place for it. I suggest you message the OU Council, PM our Tier Leaders, Finchinator and Ruft, or make a post in Senior Staff requests, should you have a badge.

Should you have any questions about the suspect test, feel free to message the OU Council. And if you have any questions about the moderation of this thread, feel free to message the OU Forum Leaders.

Keep in mind that our suspect tests are decided by the community; anyone who rightfully achieves voting requisites is allowed to vote. The outcome is up to you.

 

[Finchinator]

This thread will be closed for 24h for everyone to gather their thoughts. This is reserved as per normal, too.

 

[Finchinator]

Finally, I would like to thank everyone for engaging with SS OU this generation. It has been a pleasure and a privilege leading this tier, but this is likely the last suspect of the generation (during its time as the main generation at least). I look forward to taking charge for generation nine, too!

 

[Finchinator]

free

 

[Porygonzspecial]

I have thinked and put a bit of thought into it and in the case of melmetal I think it should be banned. Due to its good type, it's harder to wear down then other physical attackers but it is wore down by rocky helmet users like corviknight and toxapex. Sometimes they don't run rocky helmet and even then, depending on the set melmetal could slow down melmetal and with ice punch melmetal slices landorus-therian thunder punch dents both corviknight and toxapex for good damage. And sometimes with that there comes the fact that not all teams could fit something that can slow down melmetal. Before I thought melmetal wasn't a problem as I usually got the set each time but ice punch and thunder punch really could change the set making melmetal sometimes downright have no possible switchins. Melmetal terrorizes stall/defensive teams to no end. Your corviknight sure could take ice punch variants but then you might have to roost right after if its thunder punch and enemies can take adavantedge of that. I feel like for players I see go around just saying that it shouldn't be banned I feel like that we should worry about the meta just not being healthy and people thinking that there is lack of momentum and to that I say the offensive nature of teams are still fine and we don't generate momentum of letting a pokemon that has no switchins do that job and just be impossible to deal with unless we just got rid of a mon. If I get qualified I'm voting ban because this pokemon made it way to far without being banned and just having lack of switchins. Today the more I thought of it the more I realized how broken it was.

 

[ironwater]

Melmetal is indeed and undeniably one of the most consistant Pokemon in this metagame. Though, I'm leaning towards voting do not ban, as I don’t believe that it reached the point were it became an unhealthy presence in the tier.

If Melmetal was first used with purely offensive items to serve as one of the top wallbreakers in terms of sheer power, its usage shifted letting new sets emerge to capitalize on its defensive capabilities. Leftovers and Assault Vest sets are now a way more common choice as Melmetal main usage is now to be able to switch into threatening wallbreakers, avoid a 2HKO and retaliate with its still super powerful attacks. In a metagame where almost every team needs a bulky Steel type to deal with beasts like Tapu Lele and to help checking threats like Kartana and Weavile, Melmetal is often a solid candidate to serve as an answer to these threats while also being able to bring some breaking power of its own. In this way, I find that Melmetal offers a lot in terms of utility and act as a non passive one or two times answer to several huge metagame threats.

While it is also a scary wallbreaker itself, even when using a defensive item like Leftovers or Assault Vest, I don’t think we can say that it has almost no answer. Sure, some checks may not be efficient against all move options Melmetal has and some rely on good predictions to be able to come in and threatening it back. Though, we can nom a lot of Pokemon which can all help against melmetal. Rotom Wash is a solid check that only dislike Toxic which is a rare option on Melmetal. Zapdos is another check which work rather well against non Ice Punch + Earthquake Melmetal, but it also dislike Toxic. Ferrothorn is often a solid answer only fearing Superpower. Slowbro can pivot around Melmetal, even if you need to watch out for Double Iron Bash flinches. Gastrodon is another Water type able to threaten it more directly than Slowbro but which also fear Double Iron Bash flinches when it's not invested in Speed. Corviknight and Toxapex can be mentionned still even if the former is becomming less common while the later struggles to check it efficiently, especially as it needs some SpD invest now. More defensive teams always have an Iron Defense Corviknight/Skarmory though, which are rather solid answer to Melmetal. In terms of more offensive checks, Heatran and Volcanion can easily come in on a predicted Double Iron Bash and threaten Melmetal back, even if they fear other moves. They at least help detering the use of its main STAB while being able to revenge kill it with a few chip damage. Offensive teams will often be able to heavily damage Melmetal as it needs to be used to take hits from various threats these teams carry out and thus it won't be able to threaten them as much as it could despite them having no strong and reliable answer.

Overall, I feel that even if it's hard to have a 100% reliable counterplay to Melmetal, you will easily be able to include several ways of soft checking it in your team. Adding that it is useful in a lot of structures to help not getting overwhelmed by very common top metagame threat, I think that banning Melmetal will be an overall loss for the tier, removing a Pokemon far from being out of control to let several threats become way more problematic.

 

[Arissi]

Though, we can nom a lot of Pokemon which can all help against melmetal. Rotom Wash is a solid check that only dislike Toxic which is a rare option on Melmetal.

Just wanna say that Melmetal has a 37% toxic usage according to Officer Jenny so it's far from rare.

yeah it's probably not as rare as what I thought looking at this stat even if OJ data are not always the most up to date, but I still think it's a more niche option than Twave.

 

[Sycarium]

I'm Sycarium. And I have played since gen 5 at top lvl (not necessarily rank, but by team design and actual ingame knowledge and skill.), and am very strong, known for my unique sets. Using melmetal has been an absolute joy, since it fills the slot for bulky offense teams like nothing else. I've found most use by the set of a lure Hp def choice band, which both walls/checks and one shots all its main checks and counters (to name a few, lando, banded urshifu non stealh rock close combat... anything with eq or drain punch or whatever). Things like Low kick weawile do (32.4 - 38.3%) on it. Because melmetal has so many very strong movesets, it's essential for people try counter it when they get the chance, and capitalizing on this, you win the game. THAT. Is a little a broken. A bit like how Landorus in gen 7 had simply too many variety of sets (from z-fly to scarf to defensive), But, if you were to not ban a pokemon, but instead ban its strongest move combination or item on that precise pokemon, (lets say thunderwave+double iron bash), or "protective pads") then problem would be semi solved on that note, perhaps.
That being said, stat wise: I don't think it's imbalanced. Opposite to "oh no it checks things" I think it's healthy, and allows many weaker teams that otherwise would have no chance of beating a top-rated team to have a chance of victory (healthy), bypassing some drawback due to gaps in defensive synegry ect. their new pokemon set ideas make)

TL;DR Melmetal is a moist maker, that allows teams to breathe and flourish, when they otherwise would be hard bodied by the first offensive pokemon out there. I think, that by banning it and preventing -say- top 3 pokemon teams from being top 3, you would, inconsequentely, remove a good junk of ou teams from fuctioning. (not single pokemon so I think this argument can be made here). (unless people adapt, which they can). But mel metal has a little to many strong sets rn. Personally, i think protective pads removal would be key, cause then it'd have more literal counterplay.

 

[futarou-kun]

Please, do not ban Melmetal


basically melmetal is just a pokemon with great damage and good tanking, it's not a pokemon that's too strong and nimble to take to Uber. It's base speed is already very slow compared to many pokemon and can be severely out by enemy predictions. Many tools can OHKO Melmetal especially pokemon in the form of sunny weather and pokemon stabbing fighting, fire with strong spa moves. Some cases of speed superiority can cause chips to chip slowly by switching in and out to dodge attacks that make each melmetal's attack ineffective and turn-based health loss, which is also the reason why it weakens towards the end of the game. Here are some examples where other Pokemon's moves can kill melmetal:

Case in sunny weather:

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Fire Blast vs. 128 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Melmetal in Sun: 420-494 (94.8 - 111.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO


+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Venusaur Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 128 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Melmetal in Sun: 489-577 (110.3 - 130.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The case of causing chips slowly and completely:

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 128 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 306-360 (69 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Victini V-create vs. 128 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 360-426 (81.2 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The case can be ended forever:

252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 128 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 540-636 (121.8 - 143.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[awyp]

Melmetal in my eyes is not broken, which means I don't think it should be banned in OU.

Broken (IMO) = Almost impossible to check in OU metagame (There's no single switch-in for this Pokémon) [Garchomp in Gen 4 OU says hi]

Defining a 'counter' - An opposing Pokémon can switch into any of Melmetals move-pool attacks (Disregarding a critical hit) and win / revenge kill every single time.

Melmetal ( with Assault Vest, Leftovers, and Protective Pads) definitely has checks. Corviknight, Skarmory, Zapdos, and Quagsire (All off the top of my head) I think are all considered checks. Meaning they can switch in but not necessarily 1HKO but they will win in the 1 vs 1 game.

Melmetal is the 10th most used Pokemon in the OU metagame, it being on 16% of all teams. Choice Band is used 14.797% of the time.

This is where it gets interesting, I rarely see Melmetal being Choice Banded because if you predict correctly on a switch you can 2HKO all the Pokémon above, aside from Quagsire unless you get a flinch. (I mean I don't know why you would stay in [if you know its banded] but here are the calcs):

Choice Banded Melmetal (Thunder Punch) on Skarmory

252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 198-234 (59.2 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Choice Banded Melmetal (Thunder Punch) on Corviknight

252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 260-306 (65 - 76.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Choice Banded Melmetal (Ice Punch) on Zapdos

252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 220 Def Zapdos: 314-370 (81.9 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Choice Banded Melmetal (Double Iron Bash) on Quagsire

252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 166-196 (42.1 - 49.7%) -- approx. 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

It hits very hard yes (Thanks to it's ability Iron Fist), but lets say I know Melmetal is Choice Banded and it predicts correctly say I have Corviknight it goes for the Thunder Punch on the switch, I'm switching back out to a ground type / something that resists electric and setting up (Like Garchomp setting up Swords Dance and 1HKOing if the team doesn't have an answer).

Yes Melmetal has the potential to hit very hard (at a Choice Banded level), but then chipping damage becomes a problem for it, if it doesn't have Protective Pads, Ferrothorns Rocky Helmet and Iron Barbs will make it wish it didn't switch in. It's just not a dynamic Pokémon in terms of options, it's slow / has no priority moves, it has no real recovery moves (No one uses Rest based on usage stats), it has no means of increasing its attack stats in game, and if there is no Assault Vest it has a below average special defense which can easily be taken advantage of.

Does Melmetal by definition have a counter in the OU Metagame, no it doesn't but technically (IMO) it does have checks.

 

[Xufactor]

Melmetal in my eyes is not broken, which means I don't think it should be banned in OU.
Broken (IMO) = Almost impossible to check in OU metagame (There's no single switch-in for this Pokémon) [Garchomp in Gen 4 OU says hi]
Defining a 'counter' - An opposing Pokémon can switch into any of Melmetals move-pool attacks (Disregarding a critical hit) and win / revenge kill every single time.

While Melmetal is an offensive Pokemon, I think we should remember to not define a mon's "brokenness" by its checks and counters, especially when it comes to mons with defensive utility.

A mon with few counters is not necessarily broken, and a mon with a good amount of counters is not necessarily not broken. Take Terrakion, Buzzwole, and Mega Sableye for example.

Banded Terrakion with Earthquake and Megahorn has no counters, yet it is only C rank in the viability rankings.
Buzzwole's set viability rankings in https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/ss-ou-sets-viability-ranking-thread.3680009/ is: Roost + Three Attacks A-, Choice Band: B+, Choice Scarf: B. So with sets that have fewer checks and counters, it's viability actually goes down. Mega Sableye in gen 6 had a decent amount of checks and counters, but it was banned because it had the reliable utility of bouncing back hazards.

Melmetal has good defensive utility because of it's good defensive stats. It has great 1v1 matchups against the mons that don't check or counter it, which is important when people make midground plays or even stay in expecting you to double. It's counters are mainly walls with a recovery, a predictable archetype. I think it's fairly doable to switch into Melmetal with a balance team, especially once it's revealed it's item. If it's not Pads, Banded, or Lefties, I assume it's AV. I usually correlate twave with pads and toxic with lefties, although this might be flipped.

I'm more of the opinion that Melmetal should be banned atm.

 

[Storm Zone]

So for this Melmetal suspect i will be stating my opinions here on why i think it should not be banned, Melmetal may be controversial but i do not believe that it has become threatening enough to warrant a ban.

I've gathered multiple justifications:

1. It is preventing many many threats from being unhealthy, and some may even become so restricting that they may warrant quick bans, these pokemon are
- weavile: with weavile's high versatility, melmetal was keeping it in check because it was one of its only reliable switchins, given the current state of the metagame, weavile is also preventing alot of pokemon from being restricting, (dragapult, dragonite, garchomp, etc), so melmetal gone would cause a chain reaction of suspect tests which is always horrible for a balance metagame.
- dragapult: now dragapult is another extremely restricting pokemon with choice specs but, with melmetal gone the dragon dance set would be unhinged, the dragon dance set's only real counter is melmetal especially if its weakness policy, or unaware clef, which brings me to the third pokemon, clefable
- Clefable: clef is already a problem as is with its many many sets like trickbarb, cm, etc, it would become extremely oppressive and difficult to handle that the entire metagame would centralize around it and many many nasty sets like cosmic power would arise ultimately resulting in a suspect test.
- Tapu lele: perhaps the most dangerous(but not most unhealthy) on this list, is lele, lele has very limited switchins especially specs psychic and scarf, which melmetal is good at keeping under control, if melmetal goes, this will result in multiple complaints about tapu lele, ultimately resulting in a suspect which is again, horrible for a good metagame
- Tapu fini : last but not least, tapu fini, the calm mind set, the trapper set, melmetal was good at checking this, if melmetal goes this becomes more common and while its not going to be suspected, it would ultimately make the metagame more boring and discourage many many users from playing


2. Forcing progress:- This metagame severely lacks pokemon that force progress vs defensive teams which results in a stale and boring metagame, cinderace, kyurem, dark shifu, are gone, it is sad to see breakers just being extinguished from the tier, u essentially want a metagame with breakers, breakers are healthy for a metagame the definition of breaker meaning it has counter measures but it also forces progress when it comes in, melmetal gone would result in a defensive metagame with almost no effective breakers and the tier would be a very lame wasteland full of stall, it is ultimately healthier for melmetal to stay inthis metagame as it is the staple alongside landorus therian holding ss together by keeping multiple pokemon in check, just like heatran which brings me to my third point.

3. It is a staple of the tier: There has been awhile since the ou tier has had a solid staple like landorus therian, heatran and ferrothorn have come close but melmetal i feel completes this tier, as it fits well on many great teams that can be fun to play with and against, and have highly anticipated moves, melmetal overall just makes teams much more complete and defines balance, it can fit on any playstyle given its great sets and is healthy for this metagame to survive the defensive wave, and balance out the tier with offense/defense, we dont want too much defense involved, otherwise again the tier would be in shambles.

4. There are many many more restricting aspects in the tier that can be looked at, for examples:

Regenerator: the ability that in my opinion ruined this tier specifically, forcing teams to run threats just to stop regenerator cores specifically or just get switched on in an never-ending vortex, a regenerator clause should be considered here. Limiting teams to 1 regenerator user would resolve this issue.

Toxapex: again another pokemon made stupid by regenerator, the fact that this pokemon wasnt suspected before melmetal is beyond me, it is forcing powerful ground/psychic/electric attacks to be on every team or a taunt user, all because of its extremely restrictive movepool, tspikes, knock, scald, recover, etc, low risk high reward almost completely killing rain teams and HO.

Heavy Duty Boots: in my opinion the most restrictive and broken thing in competitive pokemon HISTORY!!!! THIS item ruined competitive singles and made alot of unnecessary pokemon raise to ou, go to ubers, or become restrictive themselves, for example dragonite, zapdos etc. I absolutely DEMAND that this item gets suspected in the future if melmetal was even considered C rank, this item must be suspected, it has killed an entire playstyle and buffed 2 so much that the tier has become almost unplayable, entry hazards were a crucial part of the game , sticky webs was a fun playstyle, and hazard stacking teams were a legitimate strategy (still is but nerfed), those who complain about entry hazards are only the stallers, correct me if im wrong, it was a great and crucial part of competitive singles, and the boots ruined everything.

Weavile: perhaps the mon most worthy l of a suspect or discussion other than torn, the only counter to lifeorb at +2 after a spike was defensive melmetal, imagine how broken this would become, its deadly stabs combined with its signature move had it not been able to miss wouldve probably gotten it quickbanned.

Tornadus-therian: if my arguments came true for boots and regenerator, it would fix this issue, the boots + regen make torn extremely dangerous and unhealthy, and it makes the metagame near unplayable.


5. Melmetal has the world of counterplay and measures especially offensively to keep it in check , many many checks, flame body tran + corv, knock users + steel birds, zapdos with static, blace can offensively check it, volcarona too, urshifu, even garchomp, specs pult, victini, any fire type really, blaziken, etc, and its extremely slow, all melmetal has is bulk and power, speed is an essential and absolute MUST to truly make a mon worthy of a suspect, and melmetal doesnt have it, anything checks it offensively, again to me power is not an argument as that is the definition of a breaker and as i stated above the tier needs more breakers as we are losing them, everybody else would suffer from how horrible this metagame would become and only stallers would benefit.

Conclusion: i am defiant in keeping melmetal in this tier as i would like to save this tier from dying completely and i am willing to take drastic measures here, now that ive given light and insight to the newer players that think melmetal is okay, i will be giving out teams to them =) all the do not banners, y'all gonna get free unreleased teams just hmu ;D, help me save this tier from getting tanked once again just like the kyurem ban's severe metagame backlash. (A bit selfish here but i really care about this tier)

As always, please dont let stall and boredom thrive =) test the defensive restrictions, leave melmetal alone.

And on a positive note, i hope this is received well and my justifications are taken into consideration, these are my thoughts no filter, thanks again =)

 

[bdt2002]

Casual player here who doesn’t play Gen 8 often but still knows the ins and outs of the metagame. This suspect was brought to my attention through a post on my YouTube feed unlike most, and we’ve been having a discussion on this over there. My opinion is that Melmetal isn’t overpowered but should still be banned or at least nerfed in some way because of its role as a Steel-Type in team building.

What most of us over there are currently thinking is that Melmetal is the most splashable Steel-Type in the tier, and that it has great coverage options. Multiple comments have cited bulky Volcarona as a check, which is fine I guess except for the fact that the Melmetal can be paired with Haze/Toxic Toxapex, and that outside of Volcarona and maybe Landorus-T (who is still afraid to switch into Ice Punch regardless of Intimidate), Melmetal’s soft checks are all inconsistent in the matchup. Protective Pads sets rising to prominence in 2021-22 further limit counterplay, as it’s hard to account for both that and a possible Assault Vest set at the same time. Finally, Melmetal’s poor recovery can still be offset by options like WishPort HDB Blissey or Grassy Terrain healing from Rillaboom. Overall, if I did have the credibility to voice my opinion further, I would probably still vote for the ban on this one in an effort to help diversify the Steel-Type meta more.

Edit: While I’m here I also want to voice my opinion Heavy-Duty Boots, one that I expect to be a bit controversial. I would describe this item as a “necessary evil” that actually provides more benefit than it does harm. The thing is, the Gen 8 OU metagame is relatively unexplored outside of the OU threatlist, but unlike most generations the Boots gives Pokémon who wouldn’t see use in OU at all a reason to at least try. Plus, if you’re a player upset about the lack of reliable breakers in the tier with all the previous bans, what’s stopping you from testing the waters a bit? I could easily see a future where the lower tiers are explored in an effort to find more will-be OU staples. One option I’ve been looking at recently is Incineroar, who with the Boots and a bulkier playstyle is able to play offense while on defense against several existing OU options like Dragapult, the SlowTwins, and Melmetal (assuming it doesn’t get banned, of course).

 

[adem]

Casual player here who doesn’t play Gen 8 often but still knows the ins and outs of the metagame. This suspect was brought to my attention through my YouTube feed unlike most, and we’ve been having a discussion on this over there. My opinion is that Melmetal isn’t overpowered but should still be banned or at least nerfed in some way because of its role as a Steel-Type in team building.

What most of us over there are currently thinking is that Melmetal is the most splashable Steel-Type in the tier, and that it has great coverage options. Multiple comments have cited bulky Volcarona as a check, which is fine I guess except for the fact that the Melmetal can be paired with Haze/Toxic Toxapex, and that outside of Volcarona and maybe Landorus-T (who is still afraid to switch into Ice Punch regardless of Intimidate), Melmetal’s soft checks are all inconsistent in the matchup. Protective Pads sets rising to prominence in 2021-22 further limit counterplay, as it’s hard to account for both that and a possible Assault Vest set at the same time. Finally, Melmetal’s poor recovery can still be offset by options like WishPort HDB Blissey or Grassy Terrain healing from Rillaboom. Overall, if I did have the credibility to voice my opinion further, I would probably still vote for the ban on this one in an effort to help diversify the Steel-Type meta more.

Edit: While I’m here I also want to voice my opinion Heavy-Duty Boots, one that I expect to be a bit controversial. I would describe this item as a “necessary evil” that actually provides more benefit than it does harm. The thing is, the Gen 8 OU metagame is relatively unexplored outside of the OU threatlist, but unlike most generations the Boots gives Pokémon who wouldn’t see use in OU at all a reason to at least try. Plus, if you’re a player upset about the lack of reliable breakers in the tier with all the previous bans, what’s stopping you from testing the waters a bit? I could easily see a future where the lower tiers are explored in an effort to find more will-be OU staples. One option I’ve been looking at recently is Incineroar, who with the Boots and a bulkier playstyle is able to play offense while on defense against several existing OU options like Dragapult, the SlowTwins, and Melmetal (assuming it doesn’t get banned, of course).

to stop this from being a one liner, I'm still kind on the fence about melm, and i do viably see both sides of the coin on this, its not really something that's obviously leaning towards one side; however, while i think the impact on meta health melm leaving should be considered to an extent, it really should not be the crux of arguments to and for banning it, keep in mind, broken checks broken is not supposed to be a thing, if y pokemon is broken after x pokemon is banned, u ban y pokemon as well. other things being more broken / the meta shifting to something that you don't like is also not a reason, you cant fully know what the tier will be like with it gone, and if other mons are broken, then they can be suspected after, neither are reasons to not ban a pokemon

 

[bdt2002]

View attachment 458679

Huh. I… actually didn’t know- WAIT, no, it was Magic Guard Clefable I was thinking of, not HDB Blissey. Whoops.

 

[advaita]

A balanced tier needs breakers.

While Melmetal is a machine at making progress, it also punishes aimless play harder than other Pokemon and commands respect early-game to determine its set. Between Corviknight, Buzzwole, Flame Body Heatran, Urshifu-Water, Magnet Rise Magnezone, Slowbro, Skarmory, Volcarona, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and even your own Melmetal, I fail to see what makes this thing "broken."

Can all of these lose to key predictions via Toxic, Thunder Punch, Superpower, and well-timed Protects?
Yes, but the fact that this Pokemon rewards good plays is a testament to it being a healthy offensive presence.
Melmetal actually has a high skill-ceiling unlike previous banned suspect tests such as Urshifu-Dark and Spectrier which just mindlessly clicked Wicked Blow / Ghost-move the whole game.

Defensively, Melmetal is an amazing tier presence as it blanket checks a lot of top tier threats: Weavile, Dragapult, Tapu Lele, Clefable, etc... There are more pressing issues that need to be addressed such as Toxapex and especially Heavy-Duty Boots.

Considering how slow & hesitant the council is to put out suspect tests this generation, I don't trust that these tests will ever come out. Will be voting do not ban

 

[Critaquil]

1. It is preventing many many threats from being unhealthy, and some may even become so restricting that they may warrant quick bans, these pokemon are
- weavile: with weavile's high versatility, melmetal was keeping it in check because it was one of its only reliable switchins, given the current state of the metagame, weavile is also preventing alot of pokemon from being restricting, (dragapult, dragonite, garchomp, etc), so melmetal gone would cause a chain reaction of suspect tests which is always horrible for a balance metagame.
- dragapult: now dragapult is another extremely restricting pokemon with choice specs but, with melmetal gone the dragon dance set would be unhinged, the dragon dance set's only real counter is melmetal especially if its weakness policy, or unaware clef, which brings me to the third pokemon, clefable
- Clefable: clef is already a problem as is with its many many sets like trickbarb, cm, etc, it would become extremely oppressive and difficult to handle that the entire metagame would centralize around it and many many nasty sets like cosmic power would arise ultimately resulting in a suspect test.
- Tapu lele: perhaps the most dangerous(but not most unhealthy) on this list, is lele, lele has very limited switchins especially specs psychic and scarf, which melmetal is good at keeping under control, if melmetal goes, this will result in multiple complaints about tapu lele, ultimately resulting in a suspect which is again, horrible for a good metagame
- Tapu fini : last but not least, tapu fini, the calm mind set, the trapper set, melmetal was good at checking this, if melmetal goes this becomes more common and while its not going to be suspected, it would ultimately make the metagame more boring and discourage many many users from playing

I think that this is a pretty weak argument, melmetal was never a particularly good check to any of these pokemon besides clefable, and I doubt melmetal being banned would result in any of these being suspected, in addition, if melmetal being banned is the breaking point for these things becoming banworthy, then one could argue that these pokemon were arguably banworthy to begin with

2. Forcing progress:- This metagame severely lacks pokemon that force progress vs defensive teams which results in a stale and boring metagame, cinderace, kyurem, dark shifu, are gone, it is sad to see breakers just being extinguished from the tier, u essentially want a metagame with breakers, breakers are healthy for a metagame the definition of breaker meaning it has counter measures but it also forces progress when it comes in, melmetal gone would result in a defensive metagame with almost no effective breakers and the tier would be a very lame wasteland full of stall, it is ultimately healthier for melmetal to stay inthis metagame as it is the staple alongside landorus therian holding ss together by keeping multiple pokemon in check

this argument just feels wrong from every angle, melmetal can barely even be considered a breaker, choice band is an uncommon set and most other sets arguably hurt offence significantly more than defense, one could also argue that the tier has plenty of breakers, lele, kart, blace, various weather related pokemon, weavile, bisharp, urshifu, volcanion, one could argue that the number of breakers is not the issue with the tier but rather how they are able to handle the defensive threats. conversely, melmetal does not force progress versus well prepared defensive teams, which are able to remain so well prepared due to the level of centralization in the tier, which melmetal does contribue to somewhat

5. Melmetal has the world of counterplay and measures especially offensively to keep it in check , many many checks, flame body tran + corv, knock users + steel birds, zapdos with static, blace can offensively check it, volcarona too, urshifu, even garchomp, specs pult, victini, any fire type really, blaziken, etc, and its extremely slow, all melmetal has is bulk and power, speed is an essential and absolute MUST to truly make a mon worthy of a suspect, and melmetal doesnt have it, anything checks it offensively, again to me power is not an argument as that is the definition of a breaker and as i stated above the tier needs more breakers as we are losing them, everybody else would suffer from how horrible this metagame would become and only stallers would benefit.

most of the pokemon you mention do not win against melmetal 1v1, they either need it chipped or to be running a set that they do well against, all of your listed offensive checks either don't kill melmetal from full and die in retaliation or only win assuming the melmetal isn't AV, which means you have to scout it's set first which means you probably have to sack something first. your last sentence regarding stall benefiting from a ban feels a bit misinformed, it could be argued that if anything, stall would actually be hurt by this ban due to the tier becoming a bit less centralized and therefore more threats for stall to deal with, melmetal does not have a good stall matchup unless it gets a ton of lucky flinches.

 

[bdt2002]

A balanced tier needs breakers.

While Melmetal is a machine at making progress, it also punishes aimless play harder than other Pokemon and commands respect early-game to determine its set. Between Corviknight, Buzzwole, Flame Body Heatran, Urshifu-Water, Magnet Rise Magnezone, Slowbro, Skarmory, Volcarona, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, and even your own Melmetal, I fail to see what makes this thing "broken."

Can all of these lose to key predictions with Toxic, Thunder Punch, Superpower, and well-timed Protects?
Yes, but the fact that this Pokemon rewards good plays is a testament to it being a healthy offensive presence.
Melmetal actually has a high skill-ceiling unlike previous banned suspect tests such as Urshifu-Dark and Spectrier which just mindlessly clicked Wicked Blow / Ghost-move the whole game.

Defensively, Melmetal is an amazing tier presence as it blanket checks a lot of top tier threats: Weavile, Dragapult, Tapu Lele, Clefable, etc... There are more pressing issues that need to be addressed such as Toxapex and especially Heavy-Duty Boots.

Considering how slow & hesitant the council is to put out suspect tests this generation, I don't trust that these tests will ever come out. Will be voting do not ban

I think these are all valid points. It’s just hard for me to decide because the point of a suspect test isn’t really about the Pokémon or asset being tested, so much as it’s about deciding which choice would be better for the metagame. Would a meta with or without Melmetal be the healthier and/or more popular outcome? This is why I’m honestly a bit more hesitant than my initial post made things out to be- because while Melmetal has all of the points I described, letting Pokémon like those potentially run free could be a very bad idea. Weavile especially would benefit from a Melmetal ban, and could be the next thing on the chopping block if a ban goes through.

My adjusted opinions:

-Keep suspecting Melmetal
-Suspect Weavile if the ban goes through
-Suspect Heavy-Duty Boots finally
-Do not suspect Weavile if Boots are banned
-In the off chance both Melmetal and Boots get banned, I can’t decide if Weavile would be broken

 

[Team Sky Admin 001]

I honestly think that melmetal shouldn't be banned. Melmetal has immense physical bulk and a good moveste that hits hard. However, Melmetal has to choose between assault vest or Leftovers. This is its issue. Melmetal is constantly chipped by rocky helmet and hazards. Melmetal also can't do much about a burn(courtesy of scald). Also it can't live much long and ferrothorn counters it greatly. Honestly a very good pokemon, but not ban worthy.

 

[Mimikyu Stardust]

There's two ways to see this, Melmetal as an individual mon, and Melm as a mon in the meta,

Individually, Melmetal is absolutely broken, it can 1v1 EVERYTHING even without the right set. Very few pokemon can actually one hit KO-it and its "counters" or checks can potentially lose to it if its fighting the wrong set (Rotom to Toxic Protect, Buzzwole to Toxic Protect/Acid Armor, Steel Birds to Pads Twave and even more obscure sets like AV Rock Slide for Volcarona) and can practically shut down a lot of set up sweepers and also beat any stall team if lucky.

In the meta as a whole however, Melm is a healthy addition that stops Offense and Stall from being *too* good, while it leads the meta into being a (IN MY OPINION) quite boring balance centric meta, melm being banned would open a bigger can of broken rusty nails and worms. Echoing from what Storm Zone said above, it prevents a lot of threats from getting too unhealthy (Clefable, Lele, Weavile, Pult) while still being a good staple for most teams except for extremes like HO and Stall (with a few exceptions). Also, melmetal is a staple for a reason as it is easily splashable for teams, if you run balance with rillaboom and torn, use the protect set, if you run HO, run the pads set, if you run BO or Rain, run the AV set. It eases teambuilding by compressing many role into one, usually a scary physical breaker + tank + utility which this tier desprately needs.

here are some teams that i enjoy using a lot and have gotten at least 1950+ - 2000+ on ladder for the past at least 6-8months (haven't really played much post olt due to college starting but still a fair amount to understand the meta)
NP Torn Sand Balance (ToxTect Melmetal)
Quick Claw Veil HO (Pads Melm)
DDnite Scarf Fini Offense (Pads Melm, Tho can be AV)
Xray Rillaken BO (Protect Melm)
Specs Aurorus BO (Acid Armor Melm, yea this one is a bit of a fun heat team but still counts)

Melmetal GLUES these teams, compressing the needs of breaker, status, defensive utility and even sweeping into one to help the other mon on the teams win, and i didn't even put the balances with tapu koko, clefable and gastrodon that truly shines with melm. It doesn't feel overpowered at all and is a necessary evil for the tier, if i try to replace the steels with heatran, it will still probably work but no where near as versatile as melmetal.

for some extreme examples of things that would get way better after melmetal gets banned are,

Shell Smash Spam
DD Pult + CM Lele
Cosmic Power Clefable
Nasty Plot Torn Stall
Hail/Veil

Those are some threats that would pick up in usage after melmetal ban, these aren't just some normal teams/pokemon, when these teams/pokemon become good, they're dominant with a side of being anoyying, and it would lead to more potential bans. its replacements Heatran, Ferrothorn and maybe Jirachi just doesn't quite check those threats as well as melm. Think of melmetal as Snorlax in Gen 2, without snorlax, gen 2 would be chaotic with the electrics and many more things being broken, but Snorlax checks all of those big threats in one pokemon. Melmetal is sort of in the same boat, as it is something that forces progress with its big scary attacks while also being a back bone defensively for teams to fall back on and eat up random stray hits.

Another thing to mention, Melmetal Can Potentially 1v1 any pokemon including its Checks and Counters.... if it were using the right set AND played perfectly. I know that what matters most are the Top 0.1%~ of players, but even they can't always play and build their melmetal perfectly for any battle, so yes, it can potentially beat anything 1v1, but it sure does take a whole lot of skill to do so.

So far, i have been saying what's good about melmetal and how its strenghts help the meta, now, lets get to what makes melmetal feel underwhelming sometimes and really shouldn't be seen as banworthy

Melmetal struggles with a lot of things, although i will focus on mainly 4 things in Chip Damage, Speed, Ease of Counter-teaming, and What makes it struggle more than the other steels.

Chip Damage
Ferrothorn, Steel Birds, Flame Body Tran, Pex, Spikes and more can slowly beat down melmetal. Every percent counts for melmetal as without recovery, with just a bad double iron bash on a helmet toxapex can make you in danger of getting 2hko by specs lele psychic and more, so chip damage is something that melmetal struggle with.

Speed
the other thing that it struggle with is its speed stat, you may think as a fat hunk of a mon it wouldnt matter, but melmetal is a breaker too, and having your breaker being outsped by walls like pex, hippo, gastrodon and chansey without the correct ev spread can be crucial, especially in the stall matchup where in theory, melmetal should win easily, but in practice, if you dont have at least 144 Speed Evs to outspeed chansey, you need to conserve around 25-30%.

Ease of Counter-teaming
and in reverse to what ive said before some pokemon that it checks like weavile, lele, clefable and even fini can beat it with the right set and moves, banded low kick, specs focus blast, life orb flamethrower, and trick respectively. melmetal is a pokemon thats super easy to exploit with even just 1 extra speed stat or a move, you can completely mess up this pokemon hard. The cost of using these sets aren't even that high, weavile and lele uses fighting type move to nail other steels aswell as tyranitar, flamethrower can nail other steels and other pokemon that are weak to fire like rillaboom, bisharp and the rare amoonguss. Trick tapu fini is a good set on its own being a wall, speed control and the ability to cripple walls and fatter mons with tricking a scarf onto them. The opportunity cost for pokemon that naturally get beaten by melmetal to do opposite is quite low so even trying to counter the pokemon you're supposed to counter isn't always safe and easy.

Struggling unlike other steels do
not only that, melmetal as a steel type can actually struggle with taking the hits defensive steel types are meant to take mainly in OU, that is psychic, fairy, grass, ice, dark and steel while giving extra utility. Melmetal has a poor special defense stat that without AV So pokemon like specs tapu lele can anihilate it way more than it usually would do vs other steels like heatran and ferrothorn, in the case of grass, kartana can sometimes switch into melmetal with its massive physical defense and threaten a potential banded sacred sword to kill it and while it does wall the fairies, darks and ice, as ive set in the previous point on ease of cteaming, its not exactly perfect with clefable able to click flamethrower and weavile being able to low kick, another thing that its struggle with is providing utility outside of damage. its not rare to see tapu lele beating it with just psychic and and melmetal not being able to do anything other than protect or just double out without providing any utility or damage or in the worst case scenario clicking an attacking move that doesn't do anything or make you take chip damage. The other steels offer some utility in pivot and removal in case of corviknight, hazards and status in case of heatran and ferro, meaning they will always leave something for the team after taking a meaty hit from something, but melmetal can't exactly do that as its main strenght is big damaging attacks, and when those attacks don't land or make melmetal take even more chip damage, thats really bad. While melmetal can toxic or thunder wave something, but that utility is far worse than its defensive steel counter part.

4 other minor thing that i don't think matter in discussion of suspect test and potential broken-ness but does help discussion quite a bit is
1. melmetal often struggles with making the perfect ev spread to live, outspeed and kill everything with one spread
2. 4 moveslot syndrome exists for EVERY SET from ToxTect wanting superpower and earthquake, to choice band wanting superpower, earthquake, ice punch and thunder punch
3. Its checks are common place with mons like rotom, skarm, corv, buzzwole, volcarona and pex being common although these sound like something that make melmetal weak and not banworthy, but i choose to believe this might be the case because of people trying to double down on beating melm so its not really a fair argument.

with these many flaws, melmetal doesn't exactly paint the picture of a banworthy pokemon, more of a pokemon thats amazing in the meta that can feel rather unfair with how versatile it is.

So TL;DR Melmetal as a mon individually is really good and potentially overpowered, but in the meta as a whole, it is balanced and helps the tier by compressing a lot of roles to beat some common threats like weavile and lele while being an amazing breaker to beat things like clefable, fini and gastrodon, all of which will become potentially even more broken with the banning of melm. Melmetal itself, also has quite a few flaws that make it balanced and can even sometimes struggle at the things its supposed to be doing anyways.

Definetly a DO NOT BAN (even tho personally i would like it banned cause i like lele)

and if i may suggest a potential suspect in the future,

limiting or banning regenerator.

and shoutouts Omari P for finally getting the melm suspect he wanted

 

[bdt2002]

I honestly think that melmetal shouldn't be banned. Melmetal has immense physical bulk and a good moveste that hits hard. However, Melmetal has to choose between assault vest or Leftovers. This is its issue. Melmetal is constantly chipped by rocky helmet and hazards. Melmetal also can't do much about a burn(courtesy of scald). Also it can't live much long and ferrothorn counters it greatly. Honestly a very good pokemon, but not ban worthy.

This is why Protective Pads sets exist, though, turning things like Ferrothorn matchup and Rocky Helmet into a non-factor. The lack of residual damage taken from contact punishment tends to be more useful for Melmetal anyways, since it’s recovery from Leftovers would be balanced out by that residual damage.

Edit: Melmetal also doesn’t hate entry hazards as much as one might expect. Stealth Rock is resisted, Toxic Spikes (which are almost never seen outside of Toxapex anyways) don’t do anything to it, and Sticky Web means less for it than it does for a faster Pokémon. The only realistic hazard threat to Melmetal is vanilla Spikes, which are indirectly worse in Gens 6 onward thanks to the Defog buff, and in Gen 8 see less use anyways because the omnipresence of Heavy-Duty Boots can more or less turn entry hazard moves into a wasted moveslot.

 

[Fardin]

if this was the start of the gen, most of storm's point shouldn't apply cause if melm stops stuff from being broke, u just ban those mons in the future. u never wanna settle. but since gen 9 is coming out soon, leaving ss to be semi dead, it doesnt sound smart to ban an obvious staple to the meta and then have the tier be fucky for the next 3 months where most of the playerbase just completely moved on to the next gen. banning melm seems kinda pointless at this stage cause its obviously not mega broken, its just borderline

 

[Team Sky Admin 001]

This is why Protective Pads sets exist, though, turning things like Ferrothorn matchup and Rocky Helmet into a non-factor. The lack of residual damage taken from contact punishment tends to be more useful for Melmetal anyways, since it’s recovery from Leftovers would be balanced out by that residual damage.

Edit: Melmetal also doesn’t hate entry hazards as much as one might expect. Stealth Rock is resisted, Toxic Spikes (which are almost never seen outside of Toxapex anyways) don’t do anything to it, and Sticky Web means less for it than it does for a faster Pokémon. The only realistic hazard threat to Melmetal is vanilla Spikes, which are indirectly worse in Gens 6 onward thanks to the Defog buff, and in Gen 8 see less use anyways because the omnipresence of Heavy-Duty Boots can more or less turn entry hazard moves into a wasted moveslot.

Yep, I do know about those sets, however it can't damage ferrothorn back so much, and ferro can leech seed. As for hazards, while they don't do much damage to it still can't recover that hp back, unless it's using Leftovers, which makes it vulnerable on the special side

 

[Dubthewool]

I have played OU extensively for the past months. While Melmetal is a powerful Pokemon, I do not believe Melmetal is extraordinarily broken in the context of gen 8 OU.
Here are my reasonings:

1) Low speed
Melmetal is one of slowest Pokemon ever, only naturally outspeeding Slowbro and Ferrothorn in OU. This makes Melmetal fairly easy to revenge kill with little to no speed investment.

2) Not-so-good defensively
While steel is one of the best defensive types, this largely attributed to dual-type synergies like Steel-Flying, Steel-Grass or Steel-fire.
Mono-steel on it's own is not that good defensively, being weak to Fire, Ground and Fighting, in a tier filled with powerful moves like Flare Blitz, Earthquake, Close Combat and to a lesser extent Body Press being ubiquitous. Also the lack of reliable recovery makes Melmetal's bulk relatively short lived in the amount of times it can switch in.

3) OU has large presence of heavy hitters that can effortlessly deal huge super effective damage to Melmetal.
Pokemon like Volcanion, Heatran, Landorus, Volcarona, Urshifu-S, Victiny, Hawlucha, Zapdos-Galar and Blaziken can easily put an end to Melmetal with little damage needed.

4) Double Iron Bash is not a flawless move
While very powerful, is not a spammable move, having only 8 pp, it can easily be drain of it's uses, specially by Pressure users like Corviknight and defensive pivots like Slowpoke and Toxapex.
Double Iron Bash being a multi-hit move that makes contact, makes Melmetal very susceptible to take chip damage from Rocky helmet and receive status from Flame Body and Static, often having to trade Assault Vest for Protective Pads.

5) Cannot have coverage for everything
The presence of Magnet Pull Magnet Raise Magnezone and Ferrothorn makes Melmetal trade Earthquake for the less spammable Super Power, making it have a hard time against Fire types in favor of dealing with steel types.
Superpower + Earthquake + Thunder Punch makes it have a harder time against the ever present Landorus and it's intimidate, if it runs Ice punch, it has to let go a coverage move for Fire, Steel or Water.

The combination of a possible choice band and uncertainty for coverage moves is what makes Melmetal so threatening, with good positioning Melmetal might pick a KO or even two, but at no point Melmetal feels like an oppressive force due to how slow it is and it's lack of recovery.
These issues might be mitigated by certain partners but they always come with a sort of drawback, for example, Clefable wish pass can help Melmetals longevity but both have a bad time against taunt Heatran, Melmetal with Rillaboom's grassy terrain support grants passive healing and weakened Earthquake, but it gives your team two Pokemon vulnerable to Fire. Not to mention Melmetal struggles needing support with Spikes and of course the ever present Scald burn.

 

[Ruft]

I'm seeing plenty of posts argue that Melmetal shouldn't be banned because they fear that other things would become broken if it were gone. Frankly this is a non-argument and should be avoided.

1. You cannot predict the future, even if you think so. If Melmetal were to be banned, the most likely result is that other Steel-types would rise in usage to fill Melmetal's niches. You cannot accurately predict how the metagame will evolve from there.

2. Even if certain elements of the metagame become unbalanced with Melmetal gone, then those elements will be suspect tested as well. This tier will continue to exist and be played past the end of the generation (and if you pretend that it won't, why do you care anyway?) and will still see tiering action then if necessary. Broken checking broken is not a valid argument.

This is also stated in the suspect test rules in the OP, please read it as it only takes a couple minutes and avoids hours of poor argumentation.